Tiltable and rotatively adjustable patio roof



' March 17, 1970 E. P. O'BRIEN TILTABLE AND ROTATIVELY ADJUSTABLE PATIO ROOF Filed Bay 24, 1968 Fig! Fig.3

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' INVENTOR. [diva/JP. OFF/812 BY flTTOF/VEY United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE V The structure comprises a roof supported by a single upright post which is adjustably connected with the central part of the roof by means 'Which provides for rotative adjustment of the roof about the upright axis of the post and tilting adjustment of the roof about a horizontal axis which intersects the upright axis of the post close to the plane of the roof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention My invention relates to a tiltable and rotatively adjustable patio roof which is Well adapted for installation in yards, gardens and like places to provide shade and protection against rain and wind for persons who wish to be out of doors.

Description of the prior art Non-pliable patio roofs are usually not adjustable but are fixedly supported by means, such as suitable upright supports or by attaching them to buildings or by using both the upright supports and the buildings to support them. This does not permit them to be used to the best advantage as sun shades and wind breaks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of my invention is to provide a patio roof of fairly large size and which is non-pliable in the sense that it can not be folded or rolled up and which is supported from a single centrally positioned upright post in such a manner that it can be rotatively adjusted about the axis of the upright support and tiltably adjusted about a horizontal axis which is transverse to and intersects the axis of the post and is close to the plane of the roof so that, regardless of the direction of the sun or wind, the patio roof can be adjusted to provide the greatest possible protection against them.

Another object is provide simple and effective mechanism for tiltably and rotatively adjustably supporting a patio roof from the upper end of an upright post.

Another object is to provide tiltable and rotatively adjustable patio roof supporting mechanism in which the metal parts which must be of special construction can be packaged in compact form for long distance shipment to users who can obtain, from local sources, the more bulky and cumbersome parts needed to complete their roofs.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a view in side elevation with parts in section, of a tiltable and rotativelyadjustable patio roof embodying my invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, with parts in elevation and on a larger scale than FIG. 1, showing the means for tiltably and rotatively adjustably supporting the roof from the upper end of a post.

FIG. 3 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation taken substantially on broken line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

3 Claims 3,500,594 Patented Mar. 17, 1970 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT My patio roof or cover comprises a single upright support in the form of a tubular metal post 10 set in a solid block 11 of concrete which can be integral with a concrete patio floor 12. The upper end of the post 10 supports a T-shaped fitting or member indicated in a general way by numeral 13. The member 13 comprises a tubular shank or stem 14 which fits telescopically over and is rotatively adjustable on the post 10 and can be locked in any desired rotative position on said post by at least one set screw 15. Preferably the set screw 15 carries a handle 15' by which it can be turned. A stop shoulder 16 in the shank 14 rests on the top end of the post 10 and serves as a thrust hearing. A tubular cross member 17 is integral with and extends across the upper end of the shank 14.

The axes of shank 14 and cross member 17 intersect and are at right angles to each other. The cross member 17 is provided adjacent each end with a cylindrical bearing portion 18 having a shoulder 19 adjacent its inner end. Two bushing members 20, each of which has a semicylindrical outer side and a trough or channel shaped inner side, are sized to fit within and are disposed in each cylindrical bearing portion 18 of member 17. At least one set screw 21 which has a handle 21' connected with it is provided to lock the two bushing members 20 of each pair against rotation and against outward movement in the cross member 17. When placed face to face in a bearing part 18 of cross member 17 the two bushing members 20 of each pair cooperate to form an externally cylindrical two part bushing having in it a longitudinally extending axially disposed passageway of square shape.

A main roof-supporting tubular metal beam 22 of square cross section extends through the square passageway formed by the two pairs of bushing members 20 and preferably extends an equal distance in each direction from the tubular member 13. The channel shaped grooves in the inner sides of the bushing members 20 are sized so that the screws 21 clamp the bushing members tightly against the beam 22 and hold said beam against longitudinal movement in T-shaped member 13.

A plurality of angle bars 23 rest on and extend crosswise of the beam 22 at spaced apart intervals and are clamped to said beam 22 by U-shaped clamp members 24, FIG. 4. Each clamp member 24 is sized and shaped to fit snugly and tightly clamp around the beam 22 and each clamp member 24 terminates in two outwardly extending flanges 25. Said flanges 25 are secured to the bottom flange of the angle bar 22 by flat-head bolts 26 which extend through the base flanges of the angle bar 22 and are flush with the flanges through which they extend.

Each angle bar 23 supports a rafter 27 which preferably is a wooden two by four secured by bolts 28 to the upright flange of the angle bar 22. A roof 30, preferably of light conductive corrugated fiber glass, is secured to the rafters 27. Preferably the edge portions 30 of the roof 30 extend downwardly as shown in FIG. 1 to partially hide the rafters 27 and form a more ornamental roof.

The single centrally positioned post 10 forms a convenient support for a table 31 and one or more shelves 32. Also this post 10 forms a convenient conduit through which underground electric circuit wires, not shown, can

3 extend'upwardly and 'be connected with one or more lamps 33 and one or more electric outlets 34 with which electric appliances may be connected.

The patio roof supporting means just described permits the roof to be tiltably adjusted through a wide angle and to be rotatively adjusted into any desired position around the post and this allow the user to set the roof in the adjusted position in which it will afford him the protection he most desires against sun, wind and rain.

The foregoing description and accompanying drawings clearly disclose a preferred embodiment of this invention but it will be understood that changes may be made.

I claim:

1.A patio roof and roof support comprising a rigid upright post; a T-shaped member comprising a normally upright shank rotatively adjustably supported by the upper end portion of said post and a normally horizontal tubular cross member rigid with the upper end of said shank; bushing members rotatively adjustably supported in said tubular cross member; a main roof supporting beam extending through said bushing members coaxially of said tubular member and restrained from rotation relative to said bushing members but rotatively adjustable with said bushing members in said tubular member; devices operable in locking said bushing members against rotations relative to said tubular cross member, and a roof carried by said beam, said T-shaped member and beam providing rotary adjustment of the roof on the axis of the post and tilting adjustment of the roof on the axis of the beam.

2. The patio roof and roof support as claimed in claim 1 in which the bushing members are similar and of externally cylindrical shape and in which two bushing members forming a pair are rotatively adjustably disposed in 4 each end portion of said tubular crossmem ber, the inner faces of the two bushing mmebers of each pair being longitudinally grooved providing aligned openings of square shape and in which said roof supporting beam is of square cross section and extends through said square opening and at least one transversely positioned set screw is threaded through each end portion of the tubular cross member and is adapted to lock at least one of the bushing members of each pair against rotation in said tubular cross member and to clamp said bushing member against said beam.

3. The patio roof and roof support as claimed in claim 1 in which spaced apart angle bars extend crosswise of and are secured to said main roof supporting beam; rafters are secured to and supported by said angle bars and sheet type roofing material is supported on said rafters. References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 443,966 12/1890 Knipp et al 1086 882,870 3/1908 Cary -5 2,398,441 4/1946 Moore 5265 2,709,818 6/1955 Freese 1088 X 2,974,449 3/1961 Leeper 5265 3,289,612 12/1966 Mouw 1088 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,084,050 6/1954 France.

ALFRED c. PERHAM, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

